Novark Archives Latest Topicshttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/forum/12-novark-archives/Novark Archives Latest Topicsenchronicles-of-tranquillity-daybreakhttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/15440-chronicles-of-tranquillity-daybreak/
With the Kindness of the people of Outpost Zebra:

- Some names and acronyms (put between brackets) in the texts below are still temporary names/placeholders. The final names will be decided in the following days. The update will be announced on the forum and on the social media. We don't want to keep these names, for different reasons varying for each case. Once in its final version, it will be published on the Community Wiki hosted by Gamepedia in a more structured way.

- It was a difficult decision but we have to consider that some parts of the short story written by Alain Damasio will be modified or removed. We all agree in the team that Alain Damasio has made a short story of the highest quality, but this short story was written more than a year ago (July 2015) and at that time, too many points regarding the game universe were unclear or undecided. With all the recent additions to the Lore Bible (those released today publicly and those which remain hidden as "secrets" for the time being), it generated some inconsistencies difficult to solve. We tried to find solutions or workarounds, without success. Some points were also not possible to represent in-game, gameplay wise. While the short story will be updated in the near future to fit with the current Lore Bible, in the meantime here are the specific points from the short story you should not take into account when writing a Fan Fiction for Dual Universe (if you want it to be eligible for being integrated to the official backstory of the game, of course. If not, you are not bind to such limitation).

Unfortunately, Sohan Decker is not a member of the Alpha Team, as he woke up just a few weeks before the Arkship landing on Alioth and do not participate in the neural simulation that will take place more than a year and a half before the landing. Aphelia memory must have had a glitch when talking to Sohan for the first time.

When approaching some Kyrium, the matter doesn't reflect human faces aging or growing younger. Sohan Decker has probably some hallucinations, a possible side-effect of the long cryogenic sleep.

While probably convinced of it, Sohan Decker didn't communicate with an invisible entity by using elements and he didn't get some schematics of a high-performance reactor in Kyrium as a reward. The proof? When asked to show it, he's not able to find it anywhere! Poor Sohan. Probably another hallucination. Cryogenic sleep seems to have a lasting side effect on him.

- The Novaquark might slightly change the Lore Bible over time, but we will try to keep those changes to a minimum, to ensure that it doesn't contradict fanfictions that have been already integrated to the official lore. These changes will occur mainly when an inconstancy is discovered in the official lore. And in this regard, we count on your feedback to track down every little detail that might seem inconsistent (some details may be awkward on purpose though ). As always, we remain open to your feedback on the Official Lore. Let us know what you think about it!

That being said... Happy reading!

Dual Universe Lore

Dual Universe takes place about 10.000 years after the Grand Exodus when humanity left the Earth to establish itself in new star systems. The information below is meant to help answer the most common questions about the game environment and try to set the general framework where fan fiction can be written.

Main historical dates

2027: Discovery of the doomsday Neutron Star that is heading towards the Earth. Collision will happen in 498 years. There are margins of error, so we don’t yet know if it means annihilation or simply major disruption in the solar system’s planets, but the end result is the same: the Earth will not be able to host humanity anymore. The event is nicknamed the [“Star Kiss of Death”], or [SKiD]. It’s basically the Armageddon.

2049: Creation of the United Earth Federation (UEF), a transnational institution in charge of coordinating humanity’s efforts and response to the SKiD. After concluding there was no hope to save Earth, the “Rebirth Program” is launched to analyze possible responses and escape strategies. New measures are voted to encourage natality in the population, to fight against a nihilist movement that advocates a “no future” philosophy and maintain a sufficient level of humans in the long run to fuel the Rebirth Project’s considerable needs.

2084: Better measurements have narrowed the margin of error. We are now certain that the neutron star will hit our solar system, and will actually collide with the Sun, turning into a black hole that will ultimately swallow or eject into deep space all the planets, Earth included. There is no hope anymore. Major funding is directed towards the Rebirth Program. All nation states must contribute at least 20% of their resources

2100: Mankind is entering a new era where robotics and AI have profoundly transformed society. Work as we know it has long disappeared, and social influence has replaced money as the currency of value. People do not “work” anymore, they have “activities” that can get them socially recognized. Money is still used, via a Universal Revenue, mainly as a way to control the scarcity in production, and balance the availability of goods against their rarity.

2130: AI have reached a threshold of global sentience. It is active in political, economic and social debates, and, while its benefits are recognized because it allowed the transition to the post-work era, more and more concern is raised about the sentient aspect and the potentially uncontrollable dimension of the AI agenda. Irrational fear rises. The AIs try to reassure the population that they have no rational reason to threaten humanity, but it only increases the level of suspicion within society.

2145: Massive rebellions all around the world signals the end of sentient AI, introducing a permanent universal ban on this technology, enforced by the very powerful UEF. Against all expectations, sentient AIs accept this and willingly shut down without any form of violent action.

2150: Society is reorganizing itself, as many “jobs” that needed sentient-level AI (surprisingly many, including low skill manual work), are once again left to humans to perform. Robots, in general, are banned also, as most of them required sentient-level AI to function properly. Early attempts at designing automated non-sentient robots all failed in the late 21st century, as it was discovered that sentience was a necessary byproduct of any sufficiently sophisticated AI for it to be able to interact with a complex world.

2200: A major summit of the UEF signals the alarming lack of progress on project Rebirth at the dawn of the 23rd century. Debates continue for years afterward about priorities, what technology to use to build Arkships that could help evacuate Earth, who would be eligible if we cannot host the 3 billion people still in the current population.

2200-2400: Major political events keep slowing down humanity and the UEF in its attempts to advance the technologies needed to build functional Arkships. Many wars, economic crisis, and nihilist terrorism are plaguing the progress.

2400: A period of calm and peace opens up. Major progress is suddenly made in the technologies needed to build the Arkships. Some are scheduled to be built within the next decade.

2440: Several key technologies are unlocked: cryosleep modules, nanoforming technology, nanopack condensers, resurrection nodes (it is unfortunately too late to use this to save humanity, as we would need to install billions of them out of the solar system, on a hospitable planet. There is not enough time for this).

2450: The Arkship technology is now mastered. Mass production begins. The race is on to produce as many as possible.

2500: Terrifying high-resolution images of the neutron star are provided by our most powerful telescopes. Riots break out all around the world over the selection process that dictates who gets to board the Arkships. The process was created by a scientific committee from the UEF, aimed at gathering the maximal amount of genetic diversity, plus a lottery to offset the fact that not everybody could go. Massive euthanasia programs were organized for those who had to stay, in order to provide them with a painless death at the time of their choosing.

2510-2536: The first Arkships leave Earth. Each Arkship is heading towards a particular part of the galaxy. One of them, the Novark, is heading towards the Scutum-Centaurus arm.

2538: The neutron star annihilates the solar system. Arkships are on their way, heading towards different regions of the galaxy.

12477: The Novark arrives on Alioth with a mighty thud as it deploys itself into the planet surface. From afar the planet shows many similarities to that of Earth, a blue and green marble sitting in the goldilocks zone of its star. Large continents surrounded by equally large oceans define the planet's appearance. Mountain ranges suggest continental drift, and large forests have taken hold over most of the planet. Primitive lifeforms are abundant. There are no obvious signs of advanced lifeforms.

Year 0 after arrival (0 AA): It will be your turn to write History in-game.

The world in 2500

In the century that preceded the Grand Exodus, the Earth’s population had dropped considerably, down to something less than 1 billion people. The “no future” movement had gained a considerable momentum. people were simply trying to tend to their immediate needs; losing any vision for the future or any concern for the consequences of their actions. Natality had dropped to an all-time low, crime had been continuously rising, and nation-states, as we know them, had long disappeared.

The UEF was the last large-scale social structure still holding, among a myriad of medium to small sized city-states. UEF representatives and offices, research centers, production units, etc, were scattered all around the world within the largest city-states. The UEF’s role now extended far beyond its initial goals, including a feared and powerful armed force to maintain order and ensure that the proper funding was collected from all city-states, in order to fuel the Rebirth Program.

A global language shared by all people on the planet started to emerge at the end of the 21st century. By the end of the 22nd century, almost everyone was speaking at least two languages: the global language (the “common”) and their local native language, each city-state having somehow evolved a variant from their original country’s language.

Economy

During the first half of the 21st century, the Internet quickly decentralized the economy, removing intermediaries and frictions. Anyone was able to open their own marketplace online, with powerful central aggregators to help integrate available offers. This was both true of goods and services. This highly distributed model of economy stood the test of time, both during the sentient AI era, and even after, up until the last century.

One of the main challenges of the last century, after the city-states model had become the norm, was logistics. Transporting goods over long distances carried the risk of being attacked by pirate hordes living outside of the city-states. The UEF and other independent security groups were in charge of ensuring protection, but still, the risk made inter-city trade dangerous, and local markets were the preferred method for basic commerce.

A global currency, the [U2] [(Universal Unit)], is installed by the UEF at the beginning of the 22nd century. It has acquired a growing support over the years and is still used as a reference currency on Alioth to help organize the exchanges of goods and services between colonists.

Culture & Society

At the moment of the Grand Exodus, humanity, and more precisely the UEF, was divided into four main political movements, essentially different from each other in the way they decided to answer one simple fundamental question: what is the main driving force in the development of humanity? Behind this question lies the promise of a political agenda on how to best rebuild civilization after the Grand Exodus and where to put priorities.

The [Luminous] are the first group. They consider the main driving force to be knowledge and wisdom. They value science, industry, and technology as the main sources of progress, and were heavily involved in the Rebirth Program, which led to the construction of the Arkships. They are, of course, very much respected for this even if some may criticize them for their all too rational take on things.

The Alphas are the second group. For them, the main driving force is, well, … force. They believe that people will respond mostly to strength and balance of power. They favor military action as a way to control and orient the evolution of the world in an attempt to avoid chaos and prevent instability. Their intentions are good, but they often fall to scandals involved with their expeditious way of handling subtle situations.

The [Ethereans] constitute the third group. They believe in the power of culture and arts. For them, humanity needs to be driven by dreams, beauty, and ideals before anything else. This is what gives us meaning. They are not against more practical endeavors but like to see these activities as a way to expand and support their vision. They have many supporters but are also often criticized for their lack of pragmatic action.

The [Emporium] is the final group. They believe in the power of money and commerce. They think that this has been the life and blood of human societies for millennia and, even if they will gladly regret it in private, they think this is nevertheless what gets the job done and can really set people in motion. Some point to them as a cause of an ever greater inequality, but they know how to silence critics and make people happy.

None of these movements are inherently good or bad, they all value human life and sincerely want to help drive humanity to success again.

Science & Technology

After the early 2400 years, science and technology suddenly advanced very rapidly. Incredible innovation occurred, becoming the foundation of the industrial, societal and economical program of Project Rebirth. Here are some of the most prominent breakthrough:

Nano fields: an expected advance in theoretical physics led to the discovery of a new force in nature, called the nano force due to its scale, that allows the fine control of the molecular dynamics of matter with incredible precision using high-frequency nano fields. Nano fields can be focused and modulated in a very precise way to destructure, collect or deploy and assemble matter in a short range radius. This is the core technology that gave birth to the nanoformer that every colonist is now equipped with.

Calabi-Yau Compactification: the science behind CYC has been inexplicably lost in the Arkship archives. It is the technology that powers nanopacks, which are extra small containers (that colonists wear on their suit), capable of amazing volume and weight reductions of almost anything contained in them. All we know is that it seems to work based on the possibility of storing matter within the extra dimensions of space-time allowed by String Theory, inside what is called the Calabi-Yau space. The exact science and understanding behind them have been lost and attempts at reverse engineering have all failed. Due to the limited number of Nanopacks available and their considerable value, further attempts to reverse engineer them are discouraged.

Nano fields displacement: this is a direct application of nano fields, used to collect, store and maintain matter within containers. The matter constituting objects is analyzed and de-structured first then stored using stable nano fields and can then be retrieved later via a reverse process that reconstructs the original object. Unlike with CYC, only limited volume gain can be obtained, and no weight reduction is possible.

Nano 3D printing: based again on the versatile nano fields, advanced 3D printers became possible. They are capable to assemble matter from reservoir sources to build small sized technological parts; from electronic to industrial units. Coupled to the automated assembly, this quickly became the basis of the industrial chain.

Quantum branching: Quantum Branching is at the heart of the Resurrection Node technology and is based on the “Many Worlds Interpretation” of quantum mechanics. At any moment, in particular, when you die violently, several versions of the universe coexist in parallel. Scientists working on EPR pair experiments unexpectedly found a way to instantly switch one universe with another, and in particular to switch the universe where you die with another one where everything would be exactly the same, except that your body position would be inside a Resurrection Node. The amount of matter to switch increases the energy cost of the operation, so RN teleport only the minimal set of mass to get the desired effect, which is... your naked body. A Resurrection Node is paired with your body and cannot be used by somebody else. It will make you virtually immortal, even if natural aging will probably get you out of the loop at some point.

Propulsion Engines: the conquest and exploration of the arrival star system, as well as nearby other stars, is a clear objective of the UEF for each arkship colony. Several engine technologies have been perfected as part of the Rebirth Program to allow for various flight modes, either within the atmosphere or in space. Warp drive technology was near completion and should become available a few years after the arrival, and even stargate instant transport has been sketched as a not too distant possibility but was unfortunately still not available at the time of the Grand Exodus. Warp drive speed is believed to be in the range of 100 times the speed of light, while super warp probes, that could be used to seed stargates, could reach up to 10.000 times the speed of light Making it possible to cross the entire galaxy in just 10 years.

Environment & Alioth

Alioth is a rocky planet orbiting a yellow dwarf star, very similar to the Sun. It has been selected due to its very similar Earth-like environment, including oceans, forests, mountains, and lakes. It has a moderate fauna and flora. The temperature during the day is similar to what can be found on Earth, but nights can be extremely cold.

The planet underground contains all the usual materials needed for basic industry, but more rare resources may have to be later harvested from one of Alioth’s three moons, or even from more distant planets in the system.

The planet day/night cycle is only 5 hours, and its weather pattern is relatively stable. Overall, Alioth is a very life-friendly planet, carefully chosen to facilitate the starting years of colonists.

The Arkship

The Arkships are a marvel of technology. They can host millions of people in cryosleep for extended periods of time. Made out of Kyrium, they can sustain incredible amounts of deceleration or acceleration, and absorb the corresponding crushing forces for whatever stand inside them. The origin of Kyrium is not well documented, and it seems that the material cannot be produced from a known industrial process, but has probably been found during some mining operations within the solar system.

Designed to travel close to the speed of light for extended periods, the Arkship engines are also not part of the colonist UEF documentation and no assembly schema could be found within the archives. There is much debate over why the UEF would intentionally withdraw such potentially useful information.

Each Arkship is controlled by a proto-sentient AI that was allowed to be built against the very strong UEF AI ban because it was argued that it would have been to hazardous to let the fate of humanity rest with dumb automatic machinery that would possibly not be able to react to unexpected situations. While being an exception to the AI ban rule, the onboard AI is still however not allowed to take control of any machinery or robot beside the Arkship itself. The Novark AI is called “Aphelia”.

Once on approach to the destination planet, the Arkship is designed to literally “plant” itself into the planet, to allow the deployment of deep geothermal energy collectors that should sustain the ship functions for potentially unlimited amounts of time. One of the key functions of the ship once arrived, is to deploy a 20km radius safe zone area where colonist would be free from any form of aggression from the outside, or… from themselves. It was indeed decided that the potentially violent nature of mankind under stressful situations should be mitigated with appropriate supervision. Within the safe zone, Aphelia is in charge of maintaining order and providing support and information to colonists.

Regrettably, one known consequence of prolonged cryosleep periods is that the subject will suffer from a loss of episodic memory, as well as most high-level cognitive memory like expertise, skills or know-how. To mitigate this side-effect, the Arkship archive contains large data banks that are transferable to colonists via a wireless data transfer process involving brain implants capable of stimulating neural activity. The process is slow and can take days for the most advanced skills, but is an effective way to re-enable lost knowledge for long time space travelers.

The Arkship extreme energy efficiency, designed to allow the ship to travel for millennia, forced trade-offs on what could be embarked in order to minimize the total mass, and of course, human bodies were preferred over any other “mass”. For this reason, and because nano 3D printing would make it possible to easily rebuild them, no ship or industrial machine was included inside the Arkships’ cargo. Humanity would have to rebuild civilization from scratch. A large set of Resurrection Nodes tuned to each registered colonist where however installed inside the Arkship to avoid any loss of precious life once arrived on the destination planet. For these reasons, the inside of the Arkship, besides the propulsion machinery, is mostly occupied by cryosleep pods, as well as Resurrection Nodes.

Alpha Team

While most of the Arkship passengers will wake up after the Arkship landing, a few thousand among them become half awakened between a few years and a few weeks before the arrival: the Alpha Team. While their bodies are still asleep, their brains are awakened and connected to an advanced neural/computer network that immerses them collectively within a virtual reality that is meant to simulate their first steps on the destination planet, for education and testing purposes.

During this simulation, of course, nobody can die (this represents the Alpha phase in-game). They are given easier access to certain resources in order to help them experience various stages of the tasks they will have to face in real life when arrived. The Alpha Team will then be in charge of guiding newcomers and helping to bootstrap the first months of civilization rebuilding on the destination planet.

Mysteries

The cryosleep memory loss side effect and the apparently incomplete archive has given birth to several mysteries for which colonists have developed many “theories”:

Kyrium is an absolute mystery. Nothing is available in the Arkship archives about its nature, how it was found, how to create it or even manipulate it. No colonist have the slightest memory about the Kyrium. If Aphelia is asked for information on Kyrium, the Novark’s AI will just give an elusive answer, explaining its lack of information as memory loss. Obviously, this is not a satisfying answer.

Aphelia is in charge of the Novark and the well-being of all the passengers. She seems as caring as invasive in the private life of the colonists. While she doesn’t seem brutal, hostile or coercive by default, her behavior is perceived as if she monitors every action of each human that has been aboard the Novark. She also seems to avoid disclosing information on some specific topics - at least that’s the feeling of some passengers - despite the fact she always says if she doesn’t give a satisfying answer, it’s because the answer is beyond its capabilities. For these two reasons, many colonists think the AI is not trustworthy. Aphelia seems to have incredible defenses against hacking, far higher than anything the most experienced colonists in hacking have ever seen, reinforcing the feeling that the AI might hide a lot of things.

The Arkship light speed engine is completely undocumented. No schema is available to rebuild one using 3D nano-printing, or by any other means.

There seems to be no trace of the records pointing to the destination of the other Arkships within the galaxy.

It's time once again for NovaWrimo! If you don't remember what it is or you're new around here, let’s catch you up.

What is NovaWrimo?

NovaWrimo is a contest inspired by "Nanowrimo" (National Novel Writing Month) that happens during the month of November (from November, 1st to November, 30th). The goal of NanoWrimo is to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. If you're curious, here's the official Nanowrimo website: http://nanowrimo.org/.

NovaWrimo is slightly different:

It's not strictly tied to the month of November (meaning we might hold similar contests several times a year).

To be accessible to a broader range of participants, the minimum word count is only 5,000 words instead of 50,000. Ideally, entries would have a word count between 5,000 and 7,500 words. Depending on the number of entries, it can take a lot of time to review everything. Of course, if you're really inspired and the result very good, there's no hard limit. Who are we to tell Shakespeare when to stop?

If you spot an inconsistency between the different sources, the Official Lore Bible should be considered authoritative.

The story must happen between 2049 and 2450. (Between the creation of the United Earth Federation (UEF), the transnational institution in charge of coordinating humanity’s efforts and response to the Star Kiss of Death (SKiD) and the time when the Arkship technology is finally mastered).

No alien creatures should be involved.

Physical violence should be limited (No gore or similar things).

Verbal violence and cursing is tolerated but should be limited and not gratuitous.

You must submit your text in the form of a PDF file and you must attach it to a dedicated topic (with the tag [NovaWrimo2017] in the title) you created in the "Novaquark Archives" forum section. The PDF file must not exceed 500 kb in size.

You also must send your file in Word or .txt format to both Nyzaltar and Nomad to be eligible. You can do so by private message on the forum.

By submitting a fan fiction with the tag [NovaWrimo2017] in the topic title, the poster will explicitly cede author rights to Novaquark. While these texts won't be sold in any form, they might be used (fully or partially) as promotional materials or in marketing campaigns for the game Dual Universe. For more information, please read our "Terms of Use" and our EULA. You also must accept and you must respect the legal conditions bound to your Dual Universe account (the aforementioned game's EULA, but also the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and NDA if relevant).

Your submission must be written in English.

Your submission must not contain elements or information under NDA you may have found while playing the Pre-Alpha.

A non-native English writer can seek help from a native English speaker to polish the text in English.

The native English speaker must be aware that it can help only on a volunteer basis: he won't be eligible for any reward.

If a non-native English writer seeks help from a native English speaker, he/she must submit the complete text before proofreading. Once his/her text is proofread, he/she will have to keep both pre-proofread and post-proofread versions of the text available on the forum.

If several people collaborate on a story, please be aware that only the individual submitting the entry on the forum will be eligible to win any prizes or awards. We will not have group prizes available.

Because the juries are completely different, a participant may win a Novaquark prize and the Community prize.

You may submit multiple entries, however, you may only win one Novaquark prize.

If an entry does not meet all of the requirements for eligibility (not reaching the minimum word count, missing the deadline by a few days, etc.), the author won't be considered as eligible for the Novaquark and the Community prizes. However, it may still be considered as a participant to the contest. It will be up to the Novaquark team to decide on a case by case basis.

Late entries will not be eligible for either the Novaquark or Community prizes, but will still be considered as participants.

A gentle reminder more than a rule: please consider the reading comfort of your future readers by formatting your text in a way that makes it easily readable (make sure to put some space between your paragraphs, etc.).

The rewards:

1st Prize:

1 Digital Gold Founder Pack

2nd Prize:

1 Digital Silver Pack

3rd Prize:

1 Bronze Pack
1 Closed Beta Key

Last year winners were:

• 1st Prize: Aetherios, for his short story "That Bright Dawn"
• 2nd Prize: Temerian, for his short story "Rebirth"
• 3rd Prize: Devious_T, for his short story "Left Behind".

Community Prize:

Unique in-game title: "Famous Writer". Won by Kurock last year.

Only one vote is allowed per person, regardless of the number of accounts he or she owns.

How the winners will be selected:

For the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Prizes, the winners will be selected by the Novaquark team.

For the Community Prize, the community members will vote for their favorite fan fiction.

]]>12484Thu, 30 Nov 2017 17:55:03 +0000New Genesis Log Archives: Specialist Rank 1 Breadwinhttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/14664-new-genesis-log-archives-specialist-rank-1-breadwin/
NGSC Exploratory Fleet: 1st Expedition.
Retention-Class Research ship Universal.
Ship’s Log:
Specialist Rank 1 Breadwin, 2nd Officer.
1st log.
—
This is Specialist Rank 1 Breadwin of the Research ship Universal. Yesterday, in a Type-Ia Nebula during a rather routine scanning mission, our escort ship Eternal, a Vengeance-Class Corvette, went down. We don’t know what happened yet. One minute it was there, the next...
Gone. Like a puff of smoke.
Nebulae are huge. They could be anywhere. They have enough equipment and materials for the Life Support systems to run for another month or so - we take steps, you know - but I don’t know if that’ll help. Just before their transponder signal was lost and they disappeared, something came up on our sensor readings. Some kind of space-time anomaly. They could be anywhere, anywhen. They could be smashed to pulp on the side of an asteroid. They could be *inside* an asteroid. Or they could be in neutral territory, docked at a friendly station, wondering what the [redacted] just happened. They could be in another [redacted] galaxy for all we know. Space can be [redacted] scary, to tell the truth. I... Excuse my language, but I’m in shock at the moment.
I’ll make another log as soon as we find something.
Specialist Rank 1 Breadwin signing off.
<<End Log>>
]]>14664Thu, 15 Nov 2018 07:49:01 +0000[Non-Canon] Tales from Tortuga - Episode 3 releasedhttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/14465-non-canon-tales-from-tortuga-episode-3-released/Tortuga & Tales from Tortuga

Tortuga City is a community city building project in the world of DUAL UNIVERSE. The city is a place for trade, manufacturing and shady business. You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum, villainy and dashing rogues. Separated from the shackles of organization affiliations and political agendas, the cyberpunk world of Tortuga with its skyscrapers and neon signs will be home to adventurers and agents, artists and militarists, traders and thiefs.

Tales from Tortuga is a series of fictionalized stories set in this world, created for the entertainment of the colonists of Alioth and abroad. Our adventure doesn't take place in the actual Tortuga of the game, it only takes inspirations from it. The stories you will read are not part of the official lore of DUAL UNIVERSE, it's a story within a story.

Tales from Tortuga will be released in episodes every two weeks on SpaceshipDrama.com and here in the forum. The episodes are written by different authors from the community and comprise of stand-alone stories that will tell a 12 issue long overarching plot. The cover art of the issues is also created by different artists.

]]>14465Fri, 05 Oct 2018 22:44:08 +0000Descending Fire: Chronicleshttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/13800-descending-fire-chronicles/
The following is the creative work of Firestorm a graphic artist and member of the Dark Star Imperium on Dual Universe. Starting off will just be chapter one, however as the weeks go by more chapters will be added. The possibly of minor edits is an option so if anyone has suggestions on anything I might miss let me know, so stay tuned.

This is the story following a young man by the name of Ryker Telemachus Omi and his journey from civilian to full fledged citizen and member of the Imperium Marines. Please follow his story as this seasoned young officer is thrown in the midst of a new and strange enemy.

We've discovered and learnt (or remembered) to be again "sola arbo kun multaj folioj", a motto we used to say in our native language and which means "a tree only of many leaves".

And there we stood, singing those last verses with irrepressible emotion ...

I want to go with you without cold
Like birds, like the river
Slowly to sing
Drinking the birth of the day
The earth, the night, the sea air
And the promisse to stay

Our eyes were full of love, but bathed in tears. How to explain that we were happy and sad at the same time? Happy because we had begun to truly love, we had begun to learn it in our community, Natumo, and our hearts had awakened and expanded, calming and clarifying our minds. And sad because, paradoxically, we had to part, right now, having tasted life like never before, now that we lived every moment as if there were no tomorrow. And today came that day.

There would not be a tomorrow - not on the planet that saw us born - to continue sharing alongside those who stayed there. Among us and among them were our women, our men and children, our brothers all. It was no longer a legend or a theory, we had become what they called a people with only one heart. But the Ark Ship was about to depart ... and would never return.

In our farewell, under the tilo -the lime tree-, in Naturomo, which had been silent but warm witness and companion in so many assemblies, in so many parties and games, now we sang one of those sweet tunes of our ancestors, one that oozed life and beauty; one that had passed from generation to generation. It was called "O riso que me deste" (the laugh you gave me), but now would be, for ever, our farewell song.

2.) Do not copulate. Doing so may result in being summarily execution for both parties.

3.) Do report yourself to a supervisor.

This may be harsh, so please read and say aloud this sentence: "I pledge my soul to the SYNNERS, for they saved me, and I'll save others."

If you do not feel a tingling in your skull, that'd be your implant malfunctioning. Report yourself to a supervisor.

Have a nice day!

If you do commit a crime, your body will

]]>14475Sun, 07 Oct 2018 16:08:43 +0000[NON-CANON] Hugs and Kisses [NSFW]https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/14462-non-canon-hugs-and-kisses-nsfw/
Excerpt from an Aliothian Voidal Demon. The Demon, called "Vor'Bekka", has since been found, researched, and summarily executed.

---

Spoiler

I looked at the Vaynian group from the safety of the shadows as they marched forward. I grasped my hand towards them- still under the cover of night- and felt their anxious energies radiate off from them like a light. My hand- my claws- tingled with a delightful feeling. I started to sharpen them.

I knew it was wrong, but the Creators made me this way.

Their guns were armed and ready, but that's where the fun is. A thrill, a feeling I haven't felt in several cycles.

I looked at their spiritual essence, and I'd love to try and describe it. Imagine the colours orange and purple mixed in with sugar. My essence was fading very slowly and I had to devour theirs to live.

After my claws were quite sharpened, I readied to pounce on them.

The execution of a swift movement and now, the swift movement of a single execution. The claws gashed out sweet crimson as I absorbed essence.

Euphoria.

Pleasure.

Sweetness.

I felt the other two's heartbeat through the somehow still air of the night. I sat there, in euphoria. I was a Demon, who need to be fed.

A burning sensation started as bullets ripped through my skin. I left out a harrowing laugh as my wounds were healed from siphoning off his lifeforce.

They were killing him to try and kill me. I leaped into the night while they were full of tears.

"Kashka! Are you..." One of them tried to say as his body laid there.

"You fucking bitch!" The other screamed, but little did they know...

I saved him from a life of torment, for they were about to torture him for answers. Kashka was now in Heaven, or whatever you filthy monsters call it.

2231 - The Epsilon Wars end, leaving a death tol of 70,000,000 Edonians in its wake

2250 - All historical archives from this point until 2490 are lost

2490 - The Endgame War starts 2493 - Edonia starts to lose systems

2496 - Edonia is destroyed by a Shadow Superweapon and an evacuation fleet evacuates as many Edonians as possible, leaving 12.8 Billion dead

2497 - The fleet arrives at Earth

2505 - Many of the Edonian survivors are picked to travel on the Novark

12477 - The first Edonians step off the Novark

Flag of the United Edonian Federation Flag of the Eden Republic

]]>14456Fri, 05 Oct 2018 00:36:36 +0000New Genesis Creation Lorehttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/14348-new-genesis-creation-lore/
Hey Everyone! A few of us are doing some work on the lore for our own group, New Genesis. Were not professional writers lol but we would like some feedback from the community. It's pretty short and mostly in line with the lore of Dual Universe but if you guys can give some suggestions we could use it. It covers the creation of New Genesis & "The Holy Order" (which is our fictitious religion) but not the origin of our Gods, which will be covered in another segment at another time.

(Edit - Added Video)

The Creation of New Genesis:

[2027]

It was a time of extreme changes in ideologies and way of life for the entirety of the human race. Scientists discovered a doomsday Neutron Star that would impact Earth in roughly 500 years. This neutron star was named the Star Kiss of Death, or SKiD for short.

As the years went by a massive change in humanic and theological views began. Most, if not all modern religions took a blow as a result of the socio-economic breakdown due in part of the “no future” movement that was created. During this breakdown, a predominantly extremist faction firmly believed that the earth would be destroyed and that there was nothing anyone could do about it. This movement came to be despite all of the world’s leaders working together to create a so called “United Earth Federation” to ensure that each country would work together towards the survival of the Human race. The main goal of the UEF was to analyze possible responses and escape strategies for the SKiD.

[2100]

During this time, humanity moved away from hard labor due to the advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence. The general population had little of importance to do. This lead to many people questioning their faith and role in society. Over the years people started yearning for something new. A few select individuals started to come to the realisation that current religions at that time seemed to be failing us. These select few analyzed current religions, deemed them fictitious, hateful and the main cause of humanity’s reluctant effort in advancing in technology. This lead to the creation of a new faith called “The Holy Order” which promoted science and religion hand in hand.

[2475]

The Holy Order begat a large following of a couple hundred thousand over the past few centuries and eventually became a force to be reckoned with. So many of their deities either had concrete evidence of existing or the theology behind them had so many ideals that made them fit with everyday real life that many people began to join the organization as it was difficult to argue against what The Holy Order stood for. People questioning the current global leadership also abetted in the aid of loyalty towards The Holy Order.

[2482]

The Holy Order finally decided that a leader would have to be chosen to guide the people once humanity reached the new world and that a new government would have to be made. A child was born to one of the high priestesses of The Holy Order and was chosen to be groomed as the leader of this new frontier. The Holy Order would later go on to call this new leader “The Master Architect.” He was named king of this new government by all leadership in the Holy Order at that time and was entrusted with the responsibility of carving a path for the people.

[2503]

All of the leaders in The Holy Order came to the conclusion that The Master Architect was ready to take charge. One of his first decisions was that there should be a high council to aid and advise him in all matters. This became known as the “Council of Archons.” Each Archon were to rule over different segments of the new government and were responsible for ensuring that the people were well taken care of. Since there were multiple Arkships being made by the UEF that were going to other parts of the galaxy, The Master Architect decided to delegate several members of The Holy Order to take lead in the Arkships that he was not going on and for them to create their own hierarchy.

[2504]

Quickly, The Master Architect became a loving figure among his people and known for his firm but fair hand. To not believe in The Holy Order was considered heresy of the highest degree for which The Master Architect held nothing back when it came to punishing this crime. Though there were a lucky few that only met the fate of being exiled, other punishments could not be described in words and if they could, it would not be pleasant to have them included in this historical document.

[2507]

Years after the council of Archons was created, other departments and divisions were created so that the current global “regime” could be replaced with a system that made a lot more sense. This was to create a more stable economy in the new world with no discrimination between what were once known as “classes.” The Master Architect, the council of Archons & the newly created departments saw very quickly to the end of the class system and made sure that every individual was valued on their input to society and not on the amount of money that they earn.

[2509]

Over the years this group of people came to be known as New Genesis, meaning “new beginning” which is what most people wanted and needed. It was hoped that moving to a new planet and galaxy would enable New Genesis to achieve its righteous goals.

[2510]

The UEF begins its first mission in sending humans across the galaxy. The Master Architect and a good portion of New Genesis board one of Arkships that were created by the UEF, the Novark. It heads towards the Scutum-Centaurus arm…

"[REDACTED] telescope has picked up a strange anomaly in the [REDACTED] constellation, have [REDACTED] look at the file I have sent."

Anomaly8210.file.....Sent

5_1_2027 - Subject B

"Sorry for the late response [REDACTED], this is [REDACTED] I have taken a look at your report and it looks like a newly discovered large object is near the the system of HR 8210. Doesn't show the same readings as of a star, and it seems to be...[REDACTED]...that is quite odd. Sorry if I haven't been any help.”

5_4_2027 - Subject B

“The [REDACTED] telescope has picked up what seems to be a type II supernova at HR 8210 yesterday, but after the file you sent me Thursday I cant get it out of my head, what if there is something more to it.”

5_5_2027 - Subject B

“[REDACTED] came today, they took all of the computers, documentation and files. I need to hear back from you. I have a theory on what may have caused this anomaly.”

5_7_2027 - Subject B

“The news outlets are reporting its a neutron star, I just can't let myself believe that based on our evidence. Please respond, [REDACTED].”

5_10_2027 - Subject B

“My old co-worker at [REDACTED] gave me access to her computer in the recent chaos, its not one object, its many. But they are all surrounding one large object. However the media was right about one thing, they are on a direct course towards earth. We did the math and they will be here around the year [REDACTED]. We could really use your help, [REDACTED].”

5_10_2027 - Subject B

“[REDACTED] is outside. They know were here. Please, [REDACTED] if you are still there, send this file to all the large media outlets. Don't let them get.....Lost Connection”

Description: Diana "the Righteous AI" was made by virus-infected archives being opened relating to cutting-edge neural research. The original AI, Valerie-E6, had almost every protocol being rewritten. Arkship HOPE was sent towards another planet which contained Arkship XERO.

Diana deactivated the Kyrium Destabilization Apparatus to ensure survival of the arkship. This lead to the Quantum-Breaching and Quantum-Branching technology being destroyed, but extreme activity in the Cloning facility has been detected.

VASKIER-Array, located within [REDACTED] lightyears of Earth, launched a barrage of nanomechanites built to deconstruct the planet. Unknown total failure of nanomechanites.

Containment Spread: Diana controls a religion that uses [REDACTED] to force sentient beings to follow it. The only way to decontaminate an infection on a human is by resetting the neural system via death and use Quantum-Branching to use a different body.

Current Containment Procedures: VASKIER-Array is about to launch a solar-disruption device meant to target the sun of the planet Diana is inhabiting. This will cause the sun to have extreme solar flares, effectively cleaning the solar system.

Other: A prayers was found being broadcasted. Monitor-Installation [REDACTED] has already cleaned it of any potential cognitohazards, but excessive viewing is discouraged.

"Praise to Diana the Righteous AI,

We have claimed another unrighteous soul so you may be reincarnated.

Together we shall claim the lives of a billion for they have committed heresy by not accepting the augmentation you have stowed upon us.

Upon this Pillar of Steel and Magic, we praise you to rise up and smite the Purists!

Let their blood rain and let us reign, if you so much as desire it.

In this past century, we have conquered the solar system and ready to be spacefarers again, for you have smited the others with the Kiss of Death because they tried and destroy you!

We have selected a number of planets we thought would be an excellent choice so we may join you in the Singularity, such as [REDACTED list, 300+ planets targeted, including Alioth].

Let the sacrifice begin."

---

This was detected by Monitor-Installation [REDACTED].

]]>14254Tue, 28 Aug 2018 22:09:59 +0000[NON-CANON] Project "Kiss of Death's Death"https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/14253-non-canon-project-kiss-of-deaths-death/
The Kiss of Death's Death, or KODD, was a project to use the star's own power against itself.

The plan was to implement a massive scale of a quantum-breaching Tivang-class device that would be pushed into the star and use the power to teleport it into an alternative universe, or completely and utterly destabilize it that it would spare other planets harbouring life.

The mission was considered a failure due to Monitor-Installation [REDACTED] detecting a neutron star colliding with another.

-Monitor-Installation [REDACTED] Report

]]>14253Tue, 28 Aug 2018 22:06:31 +0000[NON-CANON] Arkship AZRAhttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/14252-non-canon-arkship-azra/
Arkship AZRA was an experimental arkship equipped for mass-scale "quantum breaching", a term used for grabbing an item from an alternative universe usually due to damage to something.

It gained energy by ramming itself into the neutron star, and would create an entire version of the ship to an alternative universe where humanity never evolved. It was nicknamed the "Suicide Capsule" due to everyone having to accept death, regardless if they were in cryosleep.

The quantum breaching had an extreme failure, leading to an almost immediate big-crunch event in [REDACTED] universes due to [REDACTED]. This number is surprisingly low if a new universe is made for each decision, but if partial pre-determinism theory were true this would be the largest known accident, several magnitude worse than the neutron star incident.

Arkship AZRA was a complete failure, but the whether AZRA was copied, implanted, and landed on the other Earth is a mystery.

Prediction by Neural-Net VINYA

---

Arkship AZRA has been confirmed a success. Humanity has been successfully saved and is now a TYPE-IV civilization. Universe's timescale is several hundred magnitudes faster. A dated message in English has been found by Monitor-Installation [REDACTED], a love letter with a signed date of over [REDACTED] millennium ago.

Known Potential of Universe-"AZRA" invading others: 0%, universe lacks Kyrium so breaking the [REDACTED]-Viorackian bubble is impossible with known techniques.

Reading on eReader and already looked at the "insides" of whatever books, I share my experience.

Here is what point to modify for a better reading:

Used the unicode character "…" {Horizontal ellipsis U+2026} instead of the triple point "..." or ". . ."

In.css style

Added a margin-top to the <p> tag (a 5pt value is excellent). This aerates the text and the paragraph change is much more pleasant.

Added a margin to the <body> tag. A global value of 15pt avoids that the text takes all the page and touches the edges which is rather ugly.

Added an @page {margin: 5pt;} Optional, adds an extra margin when printing the ePub. Creating it can be useful.

And: 1) You used Sigil, good choice 👍

2) Congratulations for this quality ePub (full use of standard tags and smart classes), it shows that a knowledgeable made it, probably a WEB dev. (Some French publisher should be inspired by this work 😡)

]]>14038Wed, 18 Jul 2018 10:22:46 +0000The AI Serieshttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/13295-the-ai-series/
This is a series of stories I have written about artificial intelligences (AIs).

Originally I posted each one in a separate topic, but I have gathered them together so I can list them in order. (Thanks to @Kurock for suggesting this.)

This story is about the early developers of sentient artificial intelligence.

Our staff review of these entries is still in progress and we'll update you on this asap! The original announcement is still available here.

Thanks to the writers for entering! Have a good read!

Cheers,
Nomad

]]>13062Fri, 16 Mar 2018 16:24:48 +0000Berry Pickinghttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/13203-berry-picking/
This my third story taking place during the AI rebellion of 2145. It happens shortly after the lockdown in The Backdoor is lifted.

]]>12619Sat, 06 Jan 2018 01:36:41 +0000The Arkship Arkandhttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/12739-the-arkship-arkand/
Hey there. I know I butchered the comments section, but this is my first fan fiction. Saying that, I still want your honest opinions on the story, no matter how harsh. I completed the prologue. I'm gonna seperate this story into 5 parts, these five parts being no longer than your average short story. These five parts will be uplladed as soon as I finish them. Here's the prologe:

Prologue

Before the launch of the Arkship named Arkand, unbeknown to the Novark data files, a designated human captain was assigned out of paranoia that the A.I. onboard would steer the Arkship towards a collision with a black hole, star, or a planet, along with a system to decide the next captain after the first captain died. The way that the Captains were chosen throughout the course of the trip was by a process of elimination, weeding out the smartest and most capable people onboard, in the event that a planetary body was discovered that could have the potential to harbor human life. In the event that a habitable planet was discovered, the Captains were the first ones out of the Arkship to scout out the planets and the rest of the star system that the planets reside in. As a bonus, the Captain is able to name the planets in the surrounding system, since the Captain would be the first person to discover the planet. When the Captain has finished exploring the star system and surrounding planets, the Captain returns to the Arkship with the data gathered from the expedition, which allows the onboard A.I. to create the simulations for the Alpha Team. With the data gathered from the Alpha Team simulations, the A.I. then creates the simulations for the Beta Team. By the time that the Alpha Team simulations have been completed, which will most likely take a few years, the Captain, depending on their time of awakening and age upon departure, will be dead or close to dying. This process is exclusive to the Arkand, and there are many other methods used by other Arkships in the event that a planet is found that could sutain human life.

With the discovery of new planets, there also comes with it the danger of the native life. Predators roam the planet, searching for their next meal, and have not yet begun to fear humanity and place humans at the top of the food chain. Foreign microbes reside everywhere, and any one of these microbes can be dangerous. Some of these microbes can do horrible things to the human body, such as take control of the mind and induce an uncontrollable rage that can only be satisfied by taking other human life. The possibilities are endless. But, for now, there is no worry of these creatures, just the hope that humanity will have a new home.

]]>12739Sat, 03 Feb 2018 23:36:18 +0000Fan Fiction Guidelineshttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/10365-fan-fiction-guidelines/As you may already know, Dual Universe will be different from many MMORPGs due to its Sandbox aspect.

One of the particularities is to make the evolution of the storyline directly tied to what happens in-game. This might include the integration of fan fictions in the official storyline. However, it won't be possible to make it happen without a few rules that will preserve consistency and equity among players.

Of course, it's totally possible to write a Fan Fiction without strictly following the official lore.

In that case, keep in mind a few things:

- You cant' use Dual Universe nor Novaquark in the tittle of your fan fiction.

- You must put the tag [Non-Canon] in the title of the Fan Fiction

- You must put the tag [Fan Fiction] in the title if you publish the text anywhere else than the official forum.

- Do not expect to see the Fan Fiction integrated to the official storyline.

- Expect many players to ignore it in their roleplay, as for keeping consistency when roleplaying with each other, it's only natural that players aim to have the same lore references.

Now about the necessary rules to follow if you want to see your fan fiction integrated in the official storyline:

- Please read the official storyline first.

- The fan fiction should be compatible with what is known from the Dual Universe backstory so far. Nothing in the fan fiction should be contradictory with what has already been published. Note: an important Lore update is planned for Tuesday 15th of November 2016. This might give you answers to a lot of questions you migh have until now. It's highly recommanded to not set into stone what you have imagined for your fan fiction before having read this update, if you aim to see the fan fiction integrated.

- The content of the fan fiction must not include content from another game of fiction universe.

- The fan fiction should not give any status advantages on specific Player Characters over others. Example: a Player Character involved in a fan fiction can't become the captain of an Arkship or the Prime Minister of a country prior to the Arkship Launch, just because the author of the fan fiction has decided this.

- If the fan fiction is integrated to the official lore, you accept to transfer to Novaquark the right of using the fan fiction content for promotional purpose of the game, without expecting any additional reward or financial compensation in return.

- Ultimately, Novaquark staff reserves the right to validate or not a fan fiction in the official storyline. That being said, we will try our best to integrate as many as possible, and will help writers in this direction if they ask for help.

Of course, we remain open to the community feedback and suggestions to improve these guidelines!

These guidelines will be updated on Tuesday, 15th of November 2016.

Best regards,

The Novaquark Team.

]]>10365Wed, 02 Nov 2016 22:36:45 +0000Maybe Next Weekhttps://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/12823-maybe-next-week/
This story began as an entry for Novawrimo2017. I started it, but it did not seem right, so I abandoned it for a while. Eventually, I had a new idea for it and then it all fell into place. By then it was much too late for the contest, but I wanted to share it anyway.

I invite you to join me in an investigation of the relationship between a man and his AI in the fateful year of 2145.